Francisco de Goya

The Pilgrimage to San Isidro (La romería de San Isidro)

Clasificación
The Pilgrimage to San Isidro (La romería de San Isidro)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1820 - 1823
Ubicación
The Prado National Museum. Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Dimensiones
138.5 x 436 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil painting on plaster transferred to canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Titular
El Prado National Museum
Ficha: realización/revisión
28 Oct 2010 / 10 Jun 2024
Inventario
(P00760)
Otros títulos:
Vision of the Pilgrimage to San Isidro (Visión de la romería de San Isidro)
Historia

See Leocadia.

Análisis artístico

This painting was located on the long wall of the right-hand side of the lower floor of the house known as the Quinta del Sordo, opposite Witches' Sabbath (El Aquelarre) or The Great He-Goat (El Gran Cabrón).

The scene is related to the pilgrimage that was celebrated in Madrid on the feast day of Saint Isidore, a theme which Goya had already dealt with in a tapestry cartoon entitled The Meadow of San Isidro (La pradera de San Isidro) (rec. no. ?). The cartoon showed a cheerful landscape full of bright colours. In contrast, here the viewer is confronted by a dark painting full of sinister pilgrims who do not seem to be celebrating at all; rather, they appear to have been driven into the country by desperation and fear.

The procession is led by a group in the foreground made up of a mass of bodies and heads whose expressions and gestures are macabre grimaces. At the head of the group is a singer who is playing the guitar and another character who carries a crook or cane. Behind them on the right-hand side of the composition the procession continues with a large group of sketched figures that are depicted with simple patches of paint. It is not possible to single out any individuals from this group, although the occasional veil can be made out among the gloomy crowd.

The setting for the procession has very little in common with the landscape depicted in the tapestry cartoon for The Meadow of San Isidro. This place is dominated by shadows and darkness. The light focus falls on the main group and is lost in the distance, creating a perspective. Despite the pervasive darkness, a castle and some walls can still be made out in the background.

Nordström links this painting and others on the ground floor with Saturn and the Saturnalia, a Roman festival in honour of the god, who - like Saint Isidore - is the patron of workers.

The artist used energetic and violent brushstrokes, applying much more paint to the group in the foreground than to the background. The colour palette is very dark, based on earthy, grey and black tones with the odd touch of red.

Conservación

Apart from the restoration work carried out by Martínez Cubells in 1973, the Prado Museum also records further restoration work undertaken in 1954 by Pablo y Alarcón.

Exposiciones
  • Pinturas Negras en la Exposición Universal de París
    Palacio del Trocadero
    París
    1878
    from may 20th to November 10th 1878
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
Bibliografía
  • YRIARTE, Charles
    Goya, sa vie, son œuvre
    ParísHenri Plon
    1867
    pp. 140
  • BERUETE Y MONET, Aureliano de
    Goya, pintor de retratos, t. I
    MadridBlass y Cía
    1916
    pp.122-127
  • NORDSTRÖM, Folke
    Goya, Saturno y melancolía. Consideraciones sobre el arte de Goya
    StockholmAlquimis & Wiksell
    1962
    p.255-258
  • FUSTER, Antonio F.
    Goya. Las Pinturas Negras
    MadridGoya Hispano-Inglesa de Reaseguros, D.L.
    1963
    pp. 115-120 y 125-126
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 328, cat. 1626
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 378, cat. 703
  • Xavier Salas
    Goya
    BarcelonaCarroggio S.A. de Ediciones
    1974
    p. 201, cat. 584
  • MULLER, Priscilla
    Goya's Black Paintings: Truth and Reason in Light and Liberty
    New YorkHispanic Society of America
    1984
    pp. 184-192
  • ARNAIZ, José Manuel
    Las pinturas negras
    MadridEdiciones Antiquaria, S.A
    1996
    pp. 104-105
  • MORENO DE LAS HERAS, Margarita
    Goya. Pinturas del Museo del Prado
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1997
    pp. 309
  • JUNQUERA, Paulina
    Las Pinturas Negras de Goya
    LondonScala Publishers Ltd.
    2003
    pp. 60-61
Ficha en SAAC

Los Sistemas Aumentativos y Alternativos de Comunicación (SAAC) son formas de expresión distintas al lenguaje hablado, que tienen como objetivo aumentar (aumentativos) y/o compensar (alternativos) las dificultades de comunicación y lenguaje de muchas personas con discapacidad. Más info: Arasaac

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